Post by sentinel on Jun 7, 2014 13:13:41 GMT 10
I see the G-8 is now referred to as G-7 with Russia's absence.
EUobserver / The first G7 summit in Brussels, but not the last?
Following this line of thought will Brisbanes G-20 become the G-19?
Officially;
The 2014 G20 Leaders Summit, the most important event in the G20 year, will be held on 15 and 16 November in Brisbane, Queensland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be banned from G20 summit in Brisbane - WorldNews.
article.wn.com/view/2014/03/19/Russian_President_Vladimir_Putin_may_be_banned_from_G20_summ_m/
Lets 'pi#s' Vlad off even more, (Tony was late when all the world leaders sang 'Happy B'day' to Vlad at the last big get-to-gether and looked at vlads back for the rest of the meeting and now Julia is talking about turning the G-20 into a G-19 (guess who won't get the invite and we will run the risk of alienating a major trading partner - China. Whether you agree with these countries policy's or not doesn't matter but I bet they 'Close-Ranks' when things get to the wire and we are in the southern hemisphere and will be out on a proverbial limb - IMO)
G20 Members
Countries
•Argentina
•Australia
•Brazil
•Canada
•China
•France
•Germany
•India
•Indonesia
•Italy
•Japan
•Mexico
•Russia
•Saudi Arabia
•South Africa
• Korea
•Turkey
•United Kingdom
•United States
•European Union*
(Should be remembered that at least five countries listed above are major players in the 'BRICS' BANK so would likely back Russia in a 'crunch' situation IMO).
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be banned from G20 summit in Brisbane
www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/russian-president-vladimir-putin-may-be-banned-from-g20-summit-in-brisbane-20140320-353t9.html
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be banned from G20 summit in Brisbane
Political News
Date: March 20, 2014 (0)
Lisa Cox - National political reporter
•Russia brushes off sanctions
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has not ruled out preventing Russian President Vladimir Putin from attending the G20 summit in Brisbane later this year.
Ms Bishop said the government was considering what further steps to take after announcing on Wednesday that it would impose sanctions and travel bans on a dozen individuals over Russia's interference in Ukraine.
The Foreign Minister was asked whether Mr Putin would be welcome in Australia for the November summit and if the government was concerned other member nations would boycott the event if Mr Putin attended.
"We are still deciding on further steps that we will take in relation to the G20," Ms Bishop told Fairfax Radio.
"This is way down the track. The G20 meeting is not until November. There's a lot of water to pass under the bridge."
Speculation about Mr Putin's attendance has been swirling since early this month, with the head of Queensland Police Service's G20 Group saying the possibility that one or more leaders would not be able to attend had been considered.
Australia has joined the US, Europe and Canada in targeting individuals who have "been instrumental in the Russian threat to Ukraine's sovereignty".
The sanctions came after Mr Putin announced Russia would annex Crimea, the Ukrainian region that voted on Sunday to secede from the rest of the country in a referendum condemned in the West as illegal and rigged.
Australia has not named the individuals who are subject to the sanctions.
"At this point I'm not able to identify them because we are implementing the autonomous sanctions regulations of 2011 and I don't want to give an indication in advance in case any assets are moved," Ms Bishop told Radio National on Thursday.
"But once that process is completed I'll be able to give an indication."
Ms Bishop said the US, Canada and the EU had each targeted about a dozen people.
"In the case of Japan they have frozen negotiations over a number of trade an investment agreements that had been under way because you would be aware that Russia and Japan's relationship had been thawing in recent times, it's now back in the freezer," she said.
Russia has brushed off Australia's sanctions, saying they won't have much effect and could help an anti-corruption drive.
A spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Canberra, Alexander Odoevskiy, dismissed the sanctions, saying if anything they would help the government in its drive to stamp out corruption among senior officials.
''I really doubt there will be significant interests of the Russian politicians and foreign assets in Australia. In fact, by law, top Russian bureaucrats are not allowed to have any property or business or financial interest abroad.
''These sanctions will help to implement anti-corruption policies, which have been introduced by the Russian government ... a year ago. If there are some corrupt top officials, which I doubt, who have assets in Australia and they will be frozen, this will only help the anti-corruption work currently being done by Russia.''
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is heading to Russia and Ukraine to try to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the crisis.
Ms Bishop said there was a genuine fear that military conflict was inevitable in Ukraine.
"There is certainly the potential for it and we are deeply concerned," she said.
with David Wroe